The Closed Book Bella
by BookMe
Summary: Edward Cullen is Bella's councellor. She's his longest running case who also messes up his amazing sucess rate statistics. Find out Bella's dark secret and find out how Edward cracks her. Edward and the Cullens-Vampires, Bella-Human.
1. Therapy

**I don't own these characters, they're all Stephenie Meyer's…all of them but Stephen, he's my dude ;D**

**_This idea popped into my head a while back and I finally got 'round to writing it up. Let me know what you think! It's a one shot, so don't expect any more!_**

**Edward POV.**

"Good morning Stephen. If I could have my client list please." I greeted my receptionist on yet another dark and gloomy Monday morning in Forks.

"Sure, here." He yawned as he lazily shoved a sheet of paper into my hand and returned to his coffee.

"Thanks…" I sighed before I headed to my office. At my office door I skim read my name plaque which boasted my name, my degrees and my job title. A counsellor. After decades of studying different subjects, I felt like I finally found my niche with being a counsellor. The fact that I could read people's mind was a great advantage in my profession along with the fact that I could hear my patient's heart rate and therefore knew if they lied to me. I was an award winning counsellor due to my great success. My record was unmatched or even neared by any other in the nearby states seeing as it was practically perfect. Except for one blip. Named Bella.

I entered my office, passed the comfortable sofa that none of my patients, bar one even lay on because they all saw it as a prop. No one really lay on a sofa when they talked to me, the counsellor. 'They only did that in the films', according to all but one of my clients.

I walked around my heavy black, wooden desk and sat in my large red recliner. This piece of furniture was the only thing that I had chosen for myself. Alice bought everything else for me from the tiresome artwork which were 'expressive' to the colossal bookcase behind me which I actually loved seeing as it spanned right along the length of the wall.

Glancing at the clock on the other end of the room, I noted that it was almost 8am. Bella would be here soon as always on a Monday morning. She had been coming to see me for a year now and I had yet to crack her. She was humiliatingly, my longest running client seeing as I was unable to hear her thoughts. The rest of my family found this little fact hilarious, except for Esme who was sympathetic to Bella because I couldn't immediately help her and Carlisle who was astounded by the one exception to my talent.

As the clock ticked slowly on, I reclined in my chair and remembered back to the first day that Bella had arrived here, almost exactly 1year ago.

_--Memory--_

I sat in my chair behind my desk, reading through my client list for the day. The new name on the top didn't immediately draw my attention seeing as I usually had two or three new clients in on a Monday morning, but after reading the whole list, I returned to the top to the first name.

_Miss Isabella Marie Swan, 16. _

I read the synopsis beneath her name which briefly explained to me the reason that she would be here for her first appointment.

_Father found her two weeks ago in her truck. Attempted Carbon dioxide poisoning. Treated at Forks hospital by a Dr Carlisle Cullen. Before suicide attempt, patient suffered from sleepless nights, nightmares and seemed disjointed. Now suffers from all of previous and has gone on to develop, mood swings, becoming afraid of the dark and being alone in unfamiliar surroundings or with men. _

_This shouldn't be too hard to figure out_, I thought as I set down the list and stood up to pace the expanse of the bookcase behind my desk. The attempted suicide was a little frightening in such a small town like Forks. It was equally surprising to find that Carlisle had treated this girl and hadn't mentioned a word to me. Not that he should, it was against patient confidentiality, but I usually picked up things that were on Carlisle's mind like this case usually would have been. Something already felt odd about this one.

A few moments later, I could distinctly hear the sound of people talking on the other side of the door. Stephen and another man. Chief Swan. I couldn't hear Isabella talking or hear her thoughts, but I guessed that she had her mind on shutdown if she was disjointed and suffered from sleepless nights. Being up early on a Monday morning wouldn't really encourage mind productivity.

_Award winning…this guy better be…if he doesn't cure my Bells…_ Chief swan rambled in his mind while Stephen ran him through signing the appropriate forms seeing as 'Bells' wasn't 18 yet.

I listened in on Stephen and Chief Swan's thoughts for long enough to know that they would be entering the room soon enough, so I sat behind my desk and pulled Isabella's case file out ready.

A light tap sounded on the door which I responded to with an audible "Come in."

I steeled myself as a mouth-watering aroma preceded the party. I knew that the aroma didn't belong to Stephen seeing as he had worked for me for some time now, and I guessed that it wasn't Chief Swan's from its floral quality. It had to be Isabella that I yearned to sink my teeth into.

I was eternally grateful of the open window nearby that blew in a fresh gust of air and sobered my senses while Stephen indicated to the Chief and his daughter to sit. I tried my best not to stare at the girl, but it was hard not to. She was as beautiful as her scent was torturous, but her beauty was however marred by dark circles which ringed beneath her eyes and the almost gray, unhealthy pallor to her skin. It was evident that she wasn't getting enough sleep and was plagued by something or someone.

_A professional? How can this kid be qualified? He only looks around twenty and I don't like the way he's looking at my Bells…he better see how empty she looks…_ Chief Swan spat in his mind while he tried his best not to glare at me.

Hoping that he understood, I nodded once after having given Bella a quick look and could tell that she had lost weight and was battling some serious demons. Thus far I had also no insight into her mind. She was blocked from me. I picked up no thoughts what so ever from her which was more than a little disconcerting.

_Good. Now that you can see that she's screwed up, fix it._ The old man's thoughts were becoming tiresome. I couldn't just click my fingers and fix the problem.

After some basic chatter, introductions and me explaining to an engrossed Chief Swan and a passive Isabella that I would do the best I could to help and that we would take each new hurdle a step at a time in order to overcome whatever was plaguing her. Isabella never spoke a word throughout the introduction or my talking. When the time came for Chief Swan to leave for the hour, I noted the rapid increase in Isabella's heart rate. Panic. At least she was seemingly feeling something even if it didn't show on the outside.

"Isabella…" I hedged a conversation with her, guessing it was pointless. She finally showed some sort of emotion on her face as she flinched.

"She doesn't like to be called Isabella…she prefers Bella…" Chief Swan informed me as he inched toward the door, his gaze worriedly locked on his daughter.

"Right…okay, Bella…" I began one more. She tore her gaze from her father long enough to respond to my question. "Would it be alright for your father to leave for an hour?" I asked and was given a tentative nod. I could see the tears welling in her eyes as she silently nodded, but I didn't mention it.

"I'll be back in one hour baby." Chief Swan promised before he stepped out of the room leaving Bella and myself alone.

She obviously trusted and loved her father that much was obvious from the way she seemed apprehensive by his departure. If he had been the cause of her suicide attempt by abusing her in any way, she definitely wouldn't have been so secretly unwilling to see him go. She would have relished at the opportunity. I could also see that the Chief loved his daughter endlessly.

The rest of our session and the weeks after consisted of Bella lying on her side on the sofa, either facing me when she was being responsive, or turning her back on me when she wasn't up for talking. When I said talking, I really only meant that she would respond with either, "Yes," "No," or "Maybe". 'Maybe' would be the longest word that I would get out of her which was more than irritating at times.

The most irritating thing of all would be when we would be conversing and I would hit a touchy subject and she would, without a word, shut down and turn her back on me. The best days were when I could get a smile out of her or get her to answer more than five questions.

After a few slow weeks I managed to coax more words out of her and finally full sentences. I learnt that she liked music and loved to read. This gave me an idea which she reluctantly complied to where she would write a short diary-style entry for me at the start of each session and I would then talk to her about what she wrote and why. At the beginning, she would start with a few words and they would be vague, but thankfully by now, things had changed. She wrote more and her personality shone through much more also, even though she tended to keep me at an arms length. She never let me into her closed mind more than she wanted and I therefore had to analyse every detail of our meeting to figure out her problem like a puzzle. This girl was hard work, but I refused to give up on her, I persevered.

_--End of Memory--_

"Dr Cullen!" Stephen called to me, breaking me from my thoughts.

I quickly got up from my chair and headed out of my room to meet Bella as was customary. For some reason, she didn't like to be left alone with Stephen in the reception area and I had also noticed that she seemed more anxious around blonde men than others. I finally worked this out when Jasper popped in one morning a few weeks into Bella's therapy. He had stopped in the doorway suddenly as Bella met his gaze. The instant that Jasper sensed her terror, he drew back from the room and told me through his thoughts that she was petrified of him for no apparent reason. I tested this theory twice more after that to make my theory water tight. I had Emmett 'drop by' which ensued no reaction from her and then Carlisle. When Carlisle entered, Bella immediately recoiled into her protective shell and became scared as she had with Jasper even though Carlisle was the one to treat her at the hospital. I didn't know if she remembered that fact, but never bothered to ask her in case I caused her pain by reminding her of that night.

I passed Stephen in the reception area and walked out into the hallway where I always found Bella, leaning against the wall. "Good morning Bella." I greeted her as I held my door open for her to come in.

"Doc." She answered shortly before she flashed me a quick smile which looked extremely false, but she breezed past me and Stephen, giving him a small awkward smile regardless. From that moment, I knew that she was in a bad mood and I would be the one to suffer for it. She never went lightly on me, I knew that today we would either end up shouting at each other or she wouldn't talk for the full hour except for possibly a mockingly cheery, "See you next week" before she would get out.

As was customary, she flopped down onto the sofa and waited for me to get to my desk. I sat down and remained silent, waiting for her to make the first move today if she would indeed even bother talking.

We sat in silence while Bella got comfortable on the sofa with her head and shoulders propped up on the cushions, her feet on the sofa and her knees bent. Suddenly, her bored voice ran out in question. "Can we play a game? Like Scrabble or something?" she asked as she glanced at the games which were stacked on a shelf beside the door which I used to help younger children open up to me.

"No." I answered shortly before I crossed my arms over my chest and relaxed back into my chair.

She pouted as she crossed her arms and looked from me. "You suck…" she mumbled under her breath, but I of course heard her.

Knowing that she wouldn't willingly go ahead and initiate a conversation, I picked up a blank sheet of paper and a pen, gave them to her and then sat back down behind my desk.

Yes, she was in a bad mood. "Stop that." I ordered her but she continued to tap her pen against the seat, making clunking noises that seemed unusually loud, even with my heightened senses, due to our silence. "Isabella…" I said her full name impatiently, as a warning which immediately caused her to stop her tapping. She'd learnt a long time ago that when I called her by her full name, I was being serious.

We remained in silence for a few more minutes. When I heard the sound of the pen scratching against paper, I looked back at Bella who was now lying on her stomach. She held herself up on her elbows, wrote with her right hand and held her head up with her left. I noted the deep frown on her face as she wrote and heard her agitated sighs.

After stabbing the final full-stop she dropped the pen on the floor beside her and then held the piece of paper out. I got up from my desk and retrieved the note before I sat back down and read it.

_Dear diary, mood, apathetic…ohhh god, Dr C. I don't even know why I have to do this, it sucks._

_Feelings…okay, let's write about my feelings. I DON'T HAVE ANY! Now leave me alone to squalor in peace._

_Many thanks, Bella._

I could never get over her sarcasm and odd sense of humour. I was sure that she would have sent other therapists out of their minds with her odd attitude and cagey nature but I couldn't give up on her. From the first time I saw her, I knew that I had to help her, if only she'd let me.

"Bella…couldn't you just give me a straight answer? Don't you want me to help you?" I asked as I set the note on my desk and stared at her.

She met my stare with cold, hard eyes. "I thought you were supposed to be a professional, why can't you just fix me already!" she yelled before she sat up on the sofa and crossed her arms defiantly.

I could tell that she was all riled up and ready for this argument, otherwise, she would have turned her back on me and ignored me for the rest of the hour. "It's hard to help you when you won't open up to me Bella…" I told her, my patience quickly seeping away.

"What do you want me to do? Open and close? What am I a book?" she spat back at me.

"Yes, that's exactly what you are." I answered before I slammed my hands down on my desk and stood up abruptly. "A closed book!" I yelled back, glad that I had finally hit the nail on the head and defined her.

"Well it's kind of hard to open up to you…" She said in a low voice a few minutes later while I paced back and forth behind my desk.

"Why Bella? Why?" I asked, but continued before she could answer, "I've always been here for you; I've never bailed on you…" I finished, flinching as I noted my slip up.

"Like Charlie wanted to do you mean?!" she screamed back. I could see the hurt in her face just as clearly as I could hear it in her voice. "I know that I got a little crazy Edward, but if you'd been through what I had, you'd be a little crazy by now too." She finished, looking dejected and hopeless. I noticed that she had called me by my name for the first time and I felt foolish because I realised how much I liked it.

"Bella, you know I didn't mean it like that. You know that you can trust me." I assured her before I sat back down behind my desk, my shoulders slumped forward already in defeat after that short battle. She had blown me away with her anger and her slip up of calling me by my first name. She usually called me Doc so this threw me slightly.

"I know that…but I can't tell you what I saw…I can never tell you…" she whimpered, distracting me from my thoughts. That same look of helpless desperation raged in her hollow eyes as they welled up with tears. I knew that she was really hurting now, she never cried in my presence unless she was at breaking point, but I had to push on. She'd been coming to see me for a year now and if pushing her to the brink would get her to open up, then we would both have to suffer.

"Bella…I understand that this is hard for you to contemplate right now, but maybe you should see another counsellor…" I stated while pinching the bridge of my nose. I knew the storm of rage that she would beat me with now. I had hinted this idea once before, months ago and I had suffered a cold shoulder from her for weeks afterwards. She was stubborn and the thought of change wasn't something that she was too fond of.

"No." she said deftly, scaring me with her calm exterior.

"Bella, I cant see how I can be of any more help to you. I'm going to have to let you go and transfer you to someone else." The words tore at me and I hoped that she would do what I guessed she would do and would fight and open up.

I looked up to Bella at the sound of her gasp. Silent tears ran down her cheeks as she shook her head slowly at me and then said in a pleading voice, "You can't leave me…"

She looked so defenceless and small; I couldn't help but throw my professional side into the darkness and let my humane side shine. I kept to human speed as I raced from my chair to kneel in front of her, pulling her hands from her lap into my grasp.

She gasped between her sobs at my contact and turned her head away from me. "Bella…I wont leave you; please…just trust me…" I whispered as I rubbed my thumbs over the back of her soft warm hands.

"No…you'll leave me…nothings what it seems anymore…" she sobbed as she tore her hands from my grasp and pushed me from her. I let her be as she got up and went to the widow across the room.

I let her words play over in my mind before I questioned her, "What do you mean? Nothings what it seems anymore?" I got up from my spot on the floor and walked to stand behind her, not that she noticed with how silent I was.

"I told you…I can't tell you, you'd think I was crazy…" she sobbed before she buried her face in her hands. I let my instinct guide me as I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her back against my chest. She shocked me seeing as she didn't jump at my contact, but then shocked me even more as she turned in my arms and buried her face in my chest. I rubbed her back softly while she clawed at me, finally clenching two fistfuls of my shirt.

"Bella…just tell me what's plaguing you and then I can help…" I pleaded as I stroked her hair.

"Don't Section me okay?" she begged as she stared up at me with glistening, drowned eyes. "Please, I know what I saw…and I know it doesn't…make any sense…" she whimpered through her wracking sobs.

"I promise…" I whispered while I locked my eyes with hers.

She heaved a great breath of air before she lowered her head and rested it against my chest. We both remained silent for a few minutes while her crying died down. Once her sobs stopped, she gripped my shirt tighter in her fists and spoke, "I went to the cinema one night…Charlie was with Billy and the house was empty so I decided to get out for a few hours…" she began in a cold, dead voice. "I was just on my way back to the truck so I could get home when I heard footsteps behind me." I rubbed her back gently and toyed with her hair absently while I steeled myself for the conclusion that I was already picturing. "There was a woman ahead of me, so I didn't feel too scared…but then…his footsteps sped up and I got scared because the other woman was getting further away from me too…" I could feel her shaking against me from her fear of the memory. "He passed me…walking way faster than normal and then…I don't know how it happened…" she whimpered, stopping for a moment to rip out another sob. I froze in my reassuring actions for a few seconds as I realised that I was wrong in my guess. Bella hadn't been abused…but she had witnessed something horrific. "He caught her and she didn't even scream…she just stared at him like she was in love with him…and then he said, 'you're my singer' in a way that sounded like he was saying that he loved her…" I swayed us gently side to side while she cried. "And then he bit her…she didn't even scream Edward…there was blood…I could see it in the moonlight…" she finished as a fresh load of emotion attacked her, making her weak in my arms and her legs buckle from under her.

I quickly picked her up into my arms and kept her in my embrace as I sat us down in my red chair behind my desk. "Bella…it's alright…" I assured her as soon as we had sat down. She shocked me as she frantically moved to turn in my lap to straddle me, burying her face in my neck while wrapping her arms around my neck in a vice like grip.

I rubbed her back while she sobbed and used up all of my willpower not to sink my own teeth into her neck and drain her dry. Her secret shocked me to no end. She had witnessed a vampire attack and had been lucky enough to escape it only because the vampire had found his singer and was probably fixated on draining his prey completely dry.

I cradled Bella in my lap for a while, even when her crying stopped and her heart rate returned almost back to normal. "Edward…say something please…" She whispered at last, her warm breath fanning across my neck.

"You've called me Edward twice today." I informed her, unable to let the significant detail drop. Something stirred in me when she called me by my first name which made me want to hear it again.

"Ohhh…I'm sorry…I didn't notice…" she apologised.

"No, Bella I don't mind. I prefer it actually" I told her as she eased back from me, pulling her face from my shoulder.

I registered her puffy red eyes and nose as she stared at me. "You do?" she asked, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips as she asked me. I nodded my head silently and gave her a small smile before she grinned and admitted, "So do I…"

I was sure that if I had a functional heart, it would be beating as fast as Bella's by now, but I decided that I would settle to listening to hers instead.

"I feel better having you know my secret Edward…" she whispered as she dropped her gaze from mine. "I know it doesn't make sense…" she let her sentence trail of as she shrugged and toyed with her hands.

"A problem shared is a problem halved…" I whispered with a small smile tugging at my lips at the apparently true saying. "And Bella…I do believe your secret…I believe what you saw…" I told her, unable to tell her more but hoping that would be enough.

"I hoped you would." She answered before she yawned and rubbed her eyes. "What are we going to tell Charlie? He's going to know that something's changed…" she asked as she yawned once again.

I knew that I shouldn't, but I couldn't stop myself from tightening my hold on her and pulling her forward to rest against my chest once again. "Don't worry about Charlie, I'll talk to him, you just sleep, you've been through a lot this morning." She nodded her head then moved to sit on my lap sideways instead of straddling me. She rested her head on my chest and snuck one arm around my back and let the other wrap around my front where her hand clenched a handful of my shirt into her fist. "Thank you." She whispered before her heart rate signalled that she had fallen to sleep.

For what was left of the hour, I held one arm around Bella's back to keep her to me and let the other rub up and down her arm, to her hand that was gripping my shirt.

When the hour came to its end, I heard Charlie's arrival and him talking to Stephen.

"All finished in there?" Charlie asked as he wondered in his mind if Bella had shrugged off her bad mood from the hour ago yet.

"There was a lot of shouting in there earlier…I haven't heard anything for a while though…" Stephen replied, sounding slightly nervous.

"I guess the Doctor go the full brunt of her bad mood then, poor guy…" Charlie sighed while he secretly wondered why I continuously put up with Bella's mood swings. I suppressed my chuckle as I wondered how he'd react if I told him of my true feelings for his daughter.

"They should have finished up by now; I guess you should go in there and make sure that they haven't killed each other." Stephen laughed as he recalled the muffled sound of Bella and me arguing earlier.

I knew that I should move Bella from my arms and with my speed, I could get her to the sofa and sit back down behind my desk and Chief Swan would be none the wiser, but I couldn't. I couldn't let her go now that I had her in my arms, subdued and peaceful.

I readied myself for the Chief's fury as the door opened and he stepped inside. I could have sworn that I heard his heart stop for a few moments as he evaluated the scene of me holding Bella in my arms. He silently closed the door behind him as he walked toward the chairs on the other side of my desk. I was slightly alarmed by the fact that I couldn't hear any of his thoughts but I guessed that he was as thoughtless at this moment as he was speechless.

"Chief…she opened up to me…" I whispered to him once he had slumped himself in the chair opposite me.

"Why is she asleep? Did you knock her out?" he asked while his mind kick-started and swirled with various physical punishments for me if I had.

"No. She tired herself out from all the crying." I told him as I looked down at her peaceful face. I looked back up to the Chief swiftly, not letting myself stare at her in case he noticed how content I was to hold Bella.

"She opened up?" He asked nervously while in his mind he worried about what had happened. If she had been attacked, abused, threatened along with lots more.

"She told me that she had been heading back to her car after going to the cinema one night when she witnessed a murder. A man killed a woman a matter of feet in front of her…" I whispered, not exactly lying, just skirting around the truth.

"My baby…" Charlie mumbled as he buried his face in his hands while his mind raged with the fact that Bella had witnessed such a scene.

"Chief, I really think that Bella can get over this now that I know what happened." I told him, mentally hoping that he wouldn't fly off the handle and stop me from treating Bella now that he had found me holding her which was technically against the proper conduct of professional therapists.

"Just get my Bella back to me and don't let me see you holding her again." Charlie sighed though his hands as his thoughts revolved around his optimism of Bella's recovery.

I nodded my head silently. "Sure" I answered, knowing for a fact that if I had half the chance, I would do it again. Now that I'd had her in my arms once, I couldn't imagine being without her. I knew that I was probably being selfish, but over the past year I had noticed how Bella's heart rate would rise at the sight of me no matter how much I tried to ignore it. I hoped that she would feel the same way, but knew that I was playing with fire. She had witnessed a vampire attack, and I was a vampire. Her therapy sessions would no doubt become complex and interesting from now on.

"I'll wait outside." Charlie sighed before he got up and headed to the door, pulling his cell from his pocket as he went. From his thoughts, I learnt that he was going to call Renee, his ex-wife to let her know of Bella's secret.

"Bella…" I whispered her name as I shook her shoulder gently.

"Edward?" she whispered as she released her hold on my shirt and rubbed her eyes. I moved her to sit up straighter as she woke up. "Charlie here?" she asked softly as she looked at me with no trace of shyness which I had expected to see.

"I told him that you witnessed a murder. Not exactly a lie…" I told her as her hand found mine and she gave it a squeeze.

"Thank you…I should get going" she sighed, staying still on my lap for a few moments before she took a deep breath and moved. "See you next week." She said to me before she caught me off guard and leant forward to kiss my cheek. She hopped off my lap and silently left the room before leaving the building with Charlie, leaving me stunned in my seat, gently touching the spot she'd kissed.

My mind must have been miles away because I didn't hear Alice and Jasper's approach to my office. The fist sign I had of them was Alice's relieved sigh and voice from the doorway. "At last, she kissed him." Jasper followed her into my office, a smirk on his face.

I frowned at the two of them as Jasper sprawled out on the sofa which Bella usually occupied and pulled Alice down to lie on top of him so her back was against his chest.

"What do you two want?" I asked as I looked down at my client list to see that a married couple were scheduled for the session after Bella's and they were running late. Even with Bella's appointment running over 15 minutes, this couple had yet to arrive. I looked down at my client's sheet to see who the couple were and sighed in aggravation as I actually read the name. Mr and Mrs Branlock. "Branlock." I growled as I glared at the two who were grinning at me.

"We thought about Whitdon, but we can use that some other time." Jasper stated before he leaned his head down and pressed a tender kiss to Alice's temple.

"We just wanted to come see you while you're still half sane and single." Alice told me nonchalantly as she played with one of Jasper's hands in hers.

"What do you mean?" I asked, wondering what the little spite had seen and was withholding from me.

"You'll be married soon enough, ohhh and don't worry, she wont be scared of you or us, and just give into what she wants or she'll have Carlisle change her." Alice continued, completely pushing my patience.

"You're aggravating him sweetheart." Jasper informed Alice while he sent me a wave of calm

"Sorry Edward. I was just talking about your future. Now, the key is to let her know that you love her. I know that you've been debating if you do or don't and what would happen if you told her, so believe me, tell her. It'll just take another six months for things to happen if you don't." she said casually as if she were talking about the weather.

"Ohhh and go ahead and kill the guy who Bella saw, it'll make you fell better, just don't tell her you did it." She added before she quickly jumped back onto her feet and smirked at me.

"All that you just said…" I whispered, wondering if Alice was sure about what she had seen in her visions, where Bella and I destined to be together. It seemed highly unlikely at the moment, but I knew that I should never bet against Alice.

"It might as well be set in stone Edward. From the first moment she stepped in here, it's been solid." She told me before she latched onto Jaspers arm and began to walk with him to the door.

"Wait, Alice…since she first…you mean you've known for a year?" I asked, wishing Jasper would stop me from feeling calm and let me throttle his beloved as she nodded her head in conformation.

"Why didn't you tell me before now?" I asked.

"Edward, believe me, it was for the greater good of your relationship with Bella that I didn't tell you. You would have driven her away had you known." Alice finished with a disapproving look at the idea before she left the room with Jasper, shutting the door tightly behind them and leaving me to mull over my 'set in stone' future with Bella.

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A bit random, but there's another one of my one-shots. Let me know what you thought of it!


	2. The Second Session

_Disclaimer, I own naught._

**A/N--I said that I wouldn't write any more chapters for this story; because I thought** (Key word) **that it was finished with. Obviously not. I keep getting flashes of ideas about ExB during their therapy sessions, so I might post a few titbit chapters here and there like this one. I'll try to keep them in some sort of order.**

**This chapter is Bella's second therapy session. Sorry if this chapter seems a bit similar to the first chapter, but as I said, I thought that the first chapter was the first and last so I crammed as much as I could into it. I can broaden things now within these next few short chapters. **

**Anyhow, read on dear readers!**

**Edward POV.**

Bella was back for her second session and stretched out on the therapy sofa. When she entered, she didn't even hesitate, she headed straight for the sofa and laid down, facing away from me. After a few failed attempts, Chief Swan left, unable to get her to turn around to face me.

Bella puzzled me. I couldn't read her mind; therefore I had nothing to work with. Bella wouldn't talk to me either which was a massive obstacle which I strived to get over. She needed my help desperately and I was sure that no other therapist around here would bother with her; they would leech money from her father to prolong the sessions and then declare that there was nothing they could do. I knew Bella's sort, I had worked with many people just like her, but those people had been easy to read. I could read their minds and coax them into admitting what I had already learnt, thus helping them into recovery.

Bella's cough broke the silence. I frowned in reaction to the sound. It was an angry, rough sound which instantly told me that she was ill. That cough was reminiscent of the sounds people with chest infections made. I steeled myself and shut my eyes as I focused on listening to her breathing. I caught the wheezing sound to her breathing after a few moments. Our silence was once more broken by another bout of coughing.

I sat, feeling useless as I watched Bella's body strain against the coughing. She leant forward so her back arched a little and curled her legs up into the foetal position. I could only imagine how much pain she was in seeing as she wouldn't tell me. She was suffering in silence; I doubted if even Chief Swan knew that she was ill.

"Bella." I began, not really knowing what I was going to say.

My only response was a hitch to her breathing and her heart quickening its pace at the sound of my voice. She was panicking because I was talking to her, she obviously wanted to be left alone, but that wasn't good for her at all.

From down the hallway, I could hear Stephen's steady footfalls nearing, signalling his return. The faint smell of coffee preceded him, telling me that it was a mission accomplished. He'd got the coffee like I asked.

I knew that any minute now Stephen would get back and would knock on the door before coming in and silently setting the coffee on my table. I wondered what I should do. Bella had a problem with men, her case notes mentioned that much but she seemed fine with Chief Swan and affable enough with me when she wasn't pushed. Finally, I decided to try Stephen out to see Bella's reaction. She wasn't giving anything away so far, so I needed to work things out on my own through trial and error.

As predicted, a light knock sounded at the door a few silent moments later. I bid Stephen to enter, all the while watching and listening out to Bella's reaction. Her body coiled more into itself as Stephen entered. She had pulled her legs up closer to her chest and had her head buried away, out of sight. Her heart was beating away as if someone had a knife held at her throat and her breathing was sounding wheezier as her anxiousness intensified.

After thanking Stephen for the coffee, he left. Bella noticeably calmed and relaxed, but the deep seated tension within her never abated.

"Bella, please turn around." I asked softly as I held the warm polystyrene coffee cup between my hands, savoring its warmth.

The clock ticked on as I waited and 37 seconds later and my request was carried out. Bella slowly turned so I could see her face instead of her back. She looked tired and helpless with her eyes so void of emotion. Her eyes were shadowed with dark circles and she had an unhealthy pallor which hadn't changed since our first meeting last week.

Bella kept her eyes downcast as I watched her watching the floor. Her arms were folded over her chest, making it look as if she was hugging herself and her hands were screwed up into tight fists. I felt like Jasper at that moment. The waves of tension seemed to roll off of her, hitting me square in the chest, leaving me with a dull ache. I gave my head a slight shake to dispel the thought and then noticed Bella licking her lips hesitantly, her eyes flickering to the coffee before me.

I got up slowly from my chair, not wanting to scare her with my actions. She watched me soundlessly as I rounded my desk and picked up the coffee before walking toward her. Her heart was at it again, throwing out a frenzied rhythm as I neared her. "Have this, please." I whispered carefully once I was crouched down in front of the sofa. I held out the coffee toward her, hoping that she would accept it. I had thought about making her come and get it, but in the back of my mind I knew that she wouldn't move from her spot on the sofa. She seemed too tired to want to fight for anything let alone push herself to walk a few steps to get a cup of coffee.

The slight frown that marred her brow intensified as the coffee steamed between us. "There's nothing wrong with it." I sought out to assure her. I didn't know if she felt paranoid that it had been laced with drugs or something because I couldn't read her mind. I took a sip of the foul liquid just to prove my point before holding it back out to her. The warm coffee ran down my throat, leaving a disgusting aftertaste. I schooled my features so Bella wouldn't see, but almost jumped for joy when she slowly sat up and hesitantly moved to take the cup from my hands. I maintained my calm, professional demeanor as her hand grasped the cup. Her fingers lightly brushed mine during the interaction and the touch shook me to my core. I was amazed that neither of us dropped the cup due to the intensity of the spark which soared through me. From the way Bella's eyes snapped open wide and found mine, I guessed that she had felt the same.

I swiftly let go of the cup and got back up on my feet in order to go back behind my desk. While I had my back turned I heard Bella's whisper of 'Thank you' but I didn't comment on it, any ordinary person wouldn't have heard her. I wiped off my stupid grin before I sat down and watched her drinking slowly from the white cup.

I hoped that her acceptance of the drink was the first step to our relationship together. I needed Bella to trust me, and I wished that our little interaction had been the first stepping stone toward her recovery finish line.

I vainly hoped that Bella would be distracted with her coffee and would answer any questions that I would voice. She didn't seem like the sort to let her guard down just after having hesitantly accepted a coffee from me so I knew that my hope was futile. Bella might have accepted something from me but I also readied myself for the fact that she may be unresponsive to me for weeks now.

"Bella, I know you're ill…have you told your father?" I asked as softly as I could while concern welled up inside of me. I hoped that she had told him or would, if not, then it told me that she wasn't concerned about her health or mortality. I needed her to be concerned and to look after herself and not slip back into her self destructive ways and go down the suicide road again. One attempt was more than enough for a lifetime and she had been lucky enough to come out the on the other side alive.

Bella sniffed once before she bit her lip and ever so slightly shook her head in the negative. Her eyes remained on the cooling coffee all the while, looking hollow and carefree. She didn't seem to mind that she was ill, any average person would have been wrapped up at home and dosed up on medication, but Bella was out and about, malnourished, lacking sleep and weak both physically and mentally.

"I'm going to refer you to my father, Doctor Carlisle Cullen," I began. I made no reference to the fact that I knew that he'd been the one that treated her when she had arrived at the hospital after the attempted suicide. I continued, "He will treat you for the chest infection that I suspect you have and I hope to see you looking healthier next week." I finished. I kept my voice calm, yet firm throughout letting her know that I wasn't offering her a choice.

My cold heart ached as I noticed that Bella's eyes seemed to be flooding with tears which she was blinking back furiously. I held back my instinctive desire to comfort her and held strong. She obviously realised that there was no use in arguing, she would receive medical treatment and get better whether she liked it or not.

Once Bella had finished her coffee, she toyed with the cup, bending it out of shape before I caught on and took it from her to throw it into the bin. By the time I'd turned around in the hopes of bleeding some more information from her, she was laid back on the sofa, facing away from me as she had done at the start of the session.

I gave up my hopes and reminded myself that there was always next week where I hoped we would make even more progress. I hoped that she would say something. She had been in my company for two hours in total now and I had yet to hear the sound of her voice. The soft thank you earlier hardly qualified. The shadow of a whisper had only hinted to me the sound of her voice and it had sparked my curiosity. I found myself speculating and considering how her voice would sound to my ears, how her laughter would ring and flitter over the both of us, inducing joy and even more laughter.

At the end of the session, Bella wouldn't move any more than to a seating position. I watched her as her eyes worriedly kept flickering to the door. At the sound of her father's voice, Bella visibly relaxed and got up from the sofa before walking hurriedly to the door.

"I'll see you next week Bella, I hope you'll be feeling better." I said empathetically as I opened the door which lead to the reception area and stepped back to let Bella pass through.

Her breathing hitched and sped up as she took a step back. I casually gave the door a slight push to half close it before I turned back to look at Bella.

Her eyes were wide and her stance was panicked and fleeting. Her hands were balled up in the sleeves of her hoodie and she was biting at her bottom lip. I was about to reach out to her and beg her to stop biting her lip so forcefully when Chief Swan approached.

I turned and opened the door wide once again to allow him into the room. He went directly to Bella who seemed to have deflated, her anxiety vanishing with his presence. Her head was bowed slightly and she wouldn't make eye contact with her father, even when he stood in front of her and gently asked her how she felt the session went.

I stopped my breathing and listened intently as I waited for Bella to talk. After a few moments of silence, Chief Swan broke it declaring that he'd take Bella home and call Renee to see if she was still coming to visit in a few weeks time. I breathed once again as I realised that Chief Swan asked her how she felt the session went in the same vain attempt as myself to get her to talk. We both wanted an interlude in her haunting silence if only to hear one word, a shout of anger, anything.

"Chief, I'm setting Bella up with an appointment with Doctor Carlisle Cullen which will undoubtedly be conducted as soon as possible." I started. I paused as an onslaught of his thoughts barricaded mine. He rambled with worry over why I would set up an immediate appointment with a doctor. I flinched at his speculations that she needed to be checked over because she had been attacked, raped or was mentally unstable and needed a second opinion. I quickly salvaged the wreckage of her father's thoughts and continued, "From my own intermediate knowledge, I'm guessing that Bella has a chest infection. I want her checked out and treated as soon as possible." I clarified before I snuck a glance at Bella.

I almost smiled at the deathly glare that she was shooting at the floor. She didn't want to be treated and knew full well that she had no choice in the matter. Her father now knew the fact that she was ill and she no longer needed to hide and suffer in her self fuelled infliction.

"Thank you Doctor Cullen, I'll make sure she see's your father." Chief Swan said assuredly as he reached a hand out to wrap around his daughters waist. I couldn't help but feel sympathetic to Bella's father as she flinched at his contact and took a few steps forward from his reach. He quickly followed, berating himself in his mind for having forgotten that she hated being touched.

I escorted the two of them out of my office and confirmed next weeks appointment while keeping an eye on Bella. She stood near the door to the hallway, as far away from Stephen as she could while keeping her eyes locked on the floor. Her heart was beating frantically with anxiety and which I desperately wanted to was away.

After a silent nod to Stephen, I left him talking to Chief Swan. Bella showed no reaction to me when I walked over to her and stopped beside her. I took this as a good sign, maybe she trusted me?

"Bella…please let my father treat you. I need you to get healthy…" I whispered as I looked at her black rimmed eyes. I could hear Chief Swan behind me, approaching us. "Be safe." I whispered softly before I brushed my hand against one of her tight fisted hands and turned to say goodbye.

Once they had left, I went back to office to mull things over. Bella had let our hands touch twice without much of a reaction. The first time, she could have avoided my touch by grasping the cup at another place, but she didn't. The spark that shot through the both of us somehow didn't scare her as I imagined it would have. The second time our hands touched, she didn't even flinch as she did with her father.

I had no doubt that her father was honourable and loved his daughter deeply. Bella wasn't afraid of her father, she simply despised being touched. I wondered if she allowed my touch because I was an outsider, a professional with no family or emotional links. I frowned at that realisation. There was some sort of emotional link which I couldn't get my head around. I never reacted so personally with any of my other clients, not that I didn't care about them, I did, but Bella was different.

My next clients arrived a few moments later and I decided that my reaction to Bella was different because I couldn't read her mind. She was a closed book, a fortress which I had no means of getting into, without hopefully some time and cunning.

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	3. Carlisle's Memory

_Disclaimer-Stephenie Meyers owns all. _

**A/N. If you've been reading my other story, Divine Intervention, and have read the last chapter I wrote and it's A/N, you're probably wondering how I've managed to write this chapter. I have been having trouble with my writing, but I felt restless one night and couldn't get my mind into my 'D.I' world, but I got a filmstrip type of idea straight away when I thought of this story. The idea came so easily, I had to write it. Two hours later and all this was done. I wondered if it would be weak, but after going back over it to tidy it up, I think I have a decent chapter for you to read. Personally, I like it. I may be a little morbid, but I found writing about Bella's attempted suicide an easy way to start and to get the ball rolling...it rolled and got me over 3,500 words anyway. **

**I wont blabber on any longer, I'll let you get on with it.**

**Love, this one's for you because you've been waiting a while for it I think?**

**Edward POV.**

It had been a week since my last session with Bella and I had been anxious all week to see her again. The way I couldn't read her mind intrigued me. I wondered if it was because she was so shut down physically and apparently mentally, that there was little or nothing for me to hear anyway. I knew I was wrong with that theory because I'd seen the fire in her eyes when she got scared. She obviously wasn't dead to the world.

Another theory I had thought of was, maybe something had altered in her after the attempted suicide. I'd recently seen a memory of Carlisle's. He'd let it slip a few days ago when he was reading over Bella's case file. It was hard for Carlisle or anyone else to keep things from me and usually, Carlisle didn't. I was perplexed as to why he kept the fact that he and his colleague had been the one's to find her from me.

I should have thought of it before I supposed. I had read in her file that the paramedics had collected her and taken her to the hospital, but I saw from Carlisle's memory that he and his colleague had been the one's to find the gassed car and revive Bella.

I sat alone in the dark therapy room and thought. It was early, before 8am and it was pouring with rain. The skies outside were almost black and so my room was gloomy as I had not bothered to turn on the lights. I didn't need the lights. I could still see a fly climbing the wall on the other side of the room, even in relative darkness.

Carlisle's memory had been like a film in his mind. I had watched what he had thought and he didn't even know I'd been there. He was so engrossed in working through Bella's file that he hadn't heard me up in my room, doing exactly the same.

The memory had been dark, almost gray. The sky had been much the same as it was now, but I knew it was nearing nightfall when Carlisle had found her.

Carlisle, with his impeccable sense of smell had smelled the carbon monoxide before even reaching the car. His colleague had asked him what the hurry was as he sped up, but Carlisle didn't reply.

As they drew nearer, he could only make out the faintest sounds of a heart beat coming from the vehicle beyond the trees beside the road. He could see the faded red paint of the truck through the bush and told his colleague so. The man obviously saw nothing with his weak human sight but followed Carlisle out of the car all the same and into the trees.

Through his memory, I felt the dire desperation Carlisle felt at being unable to run at vampire speed to the truck. To do so in front of the human would have been foolish.

Thankfully, they didn't have to go too far. Once the truck was in better sight, Carlisle broke out in a run which matched a humans sprint.

I could see the body slumped against the driver's side window. The delicate shoulder pressed against it and the head bent over awkwardly.

Carlisle restrained himself and managed to open the door and not rip it from its hinges as he would have done had he less control or had he been alone. When I watched this memory for the first time, I felt like screaming at Carlisle for opening the door so suddenly and not reaching out to catch Bella. She had been leant against the door, she would surely fall.

The irony in what happened next baffled me. Bella didn't fall out. She looked awkward, half tipped out of the truck, but her fastened seatbelt kept her within the truck. She was trying to end her own life and yet still had her seatbelt on, which was there to save lives.

I knew then and there that there was something odd in this attempted suicide. Someone so desperate for an escape wouldn't have cared too much about wearing a seatbelt. The fact that the person must have got out of the car, fitted the pipe to the exhaust and then gotten back into the truck again proved to be strange. Why would Bella have fastened her seatbelt after re-entering the truck. I was puzzled. I didn't know if I could ever break through to her enough to ask her why she did that, what she was thinking at the time. Did she do it from instinct?

I doubted whether I would be lucky enough to find out the answer to those questions.

The reel kept on playing in my mind. Carlisle unfastened the belt and pulled her out. His colleague coughed from the stench of the fumes while Carlisle wrinkled his nose at the strong odour.

He laid her out on the floor and gave her mouth to mouth. Carlisle knew she was a lot worse than she seemed because he could hear her heartbeat. The only reason she was brought back to consciousness so quickly was because Carlisle was breathing 97% oxygen back into her lungs. We breathed in the air around us and breathed it right back out again. We had no by product of carbon dioxide like humans had because we could not and did not need to process the oxygen.

Her starved brain was fed with oxygen and she was revived. Her eyes didn't open but her heart beat a stronger rhythm and her breathing picked up.

I watched Bella's still form as Carlisle ordered the human to get on the phone and call for an ambulance. He explained that she needed specialist care as fast as possible. They could take her much faster to the hospital by car, but it was risky. If she lapsed, it could be fatal.

Bella's already small body looked smaller here. I wondered if this was why Carlisle had kept the memory from me. She looked like a corpse, so gray, hollow and small. Everything about her in this memory screamed desperation. A desperation to get out, to stop, to not feel anything.

I needed to find out what did this too her. What had made her so afraid, so sensitive to everything around her. What had been so damaging to her that would make her take her own life?

I was determined to get to the bottom of this. The sooner I found out, the better, but I knew this could take time and deep down, that didn't bother me too much. It was refreshing to have someone who I couldn't read, to have a puzzle that was hard to crack, much like a Rubix cube. I was sure that in a few minutes, when Bella would arrive, I would take my words back, but for now I thought it was refreshing to have someone I had to work really hard for to be of help.

Stephen was outside, in the waiting area. Chief Swan and Bella were seven steps away along the hallway from the door.

After a deep breath that I didn't need, I got up and went to the light switch beside the door. I flicked it on and basked the room with light before going back and sitting behind my desk.

A matter of moments later and Bella was in the room with me.

She didn't look so drawn into herself as last week, but she still looked ill and unhealthy. I could see that her brown, glossy hair had been braided carefully and that she was wearing baggy, comfortable clothes. I could just imagine her going to sleep in those large garments. The hoodie she wore was massive and was definitely her fathers. It had 'Chief' written on the back and even from where I was sat I could smell the mouth watering aroma of Bella, but mixed slightly with her fathers.

From the little facts that she looked a mess, but had clean, glossy hair, it told me that she may look as if she was unfeeling, uncaring about anything, but she was. If she had been as uncaring as she seemed, she wouldn't care if her hair was done up tidy. Her clothes may look baggy and something you wouldn't go out the house in, but they were clean.

I found as I sat there and Bella stood at the door, that I was starting to see things that I wouldn't normally have to look to see. I had to work around the barrier of not being able to hear her thoughts. I had to look further, be totally interested and involved in this case and this girl.

Chief Swan was at his daughters side in a matter of seconds. I could see that he kept a little distance between himself and Bella, but not as much as there was last week.

I got up from behind my desk and greeted Chief Swan. We shook hands before I asked him to sit down. The dark and gloomy clouds finally burst open with rain and pelted the large glass windows I had lining my office. Even with the glass being thick and soundproof, the sound still seeped in enough for even the humans to hear.

"How are you Bella?" I asked as I passed her still form to go back to sit behind my desk.

I wasn't expecting her to answer and she didn't. She just tightened her crossed arms around herself and kept her eyes locked on the windows.

Bella kept standing there and I wasn't about to push her into doing anything. I was sure that she knew that if she wanted to sit, she could and if she didn't want to, then she didn't have to. I read her father's thoughts and heard the same. Had this been some normal circumstance, he would have already scolded Bella and told her to answer me and not be rude.

I began to talk to Chief Swan about Bella's trip to the hospital. I had told him last week that I wanted her to be checked because I suspected that she had a chest infection. I was right and I knew I was. Carlisle had confirmed Bella's illness to me when he announced that he had in fact treated Bella that morning. He told me how severe her case had been and he was baffled as to how she had coped for so long. We both knew, and silently thought the same. Bella had been using her illness as punishment for something. Someone wouldn't go on for that long, feeling that much pain for no other reason than for punishment.

I also knew how bad her father felt for having let her suffer for so long. He had known she was ill, it didn't take a genius to see that, but he had been unable to get her any help or any treatment.

Chief Swan half wondered if Bella was afraid of me or Carlisle or intimidated, but I could tell she wasn't. I highly doubted that Bella would do as I asked and go and see Carlisle for treatment if she was intimidated or scared of me. Also, the way she never panicked when we were alone together showed that she had some trust in me. I was sure that she would become stressed and anxious if she didn't feel safe here.

During my chat with Chief Swan over how the hospital appointment had been, I watched as Bella went to the patient sofa and lay down on her side silently. She propped her head up a little with one hand and looked out the window, although I doubted that she saw much with the light on in the room. During the time I talked with her father, the only sound that ever came from her to remind us she was there was the sound of an occasional cough.

After finishing up my chat with Chief Swan and reminding him that the session ended at 9am, he got up to leave. I walked with him to the door, but paused. Bella hadn't moved, hadn't made any sign that she'd heard her father say goodbye and that he'd see her in an hour. It was as if she was transfixed by the sight and sound of the rain on the glass.

I quickly asked Chief Swan if he would help me lift the sofa forward towards the windows. He agreed and so I went to Bella and knelt down in front of her.

Her brows puckered up as I blocked her view. She sighed before slowly closing her eyes. It was at least a little sign of emotion. I must had riled her a little by blocking her view after having let her enjoy it for the past few minutes.

"Bella, I'll move in a minute, I just need you to open your eyes and look at me." I said in a calm tone as I remained knelt on the floor.

"Bella, open your eyes for me please." I asked once more. After a few more pleads, she opened her eyes slowly and gave me a blank stare.

"You're father and I are going to move the sofa forward so you can see better out the window. Do you want to get off while we move it or stay?" I asked. I watched her as she blinked once and then closed her eyes once more.

I interpreted that as a 'no I don't want to move' and so then, the Chief and I took a side each and moved the sofa with Bella upon it.

It wasn't far for us to move it and I could have done it myself with the slightest of efforts, but I had to pretend to struggle a little to keep up appearances. Once we had the sofa settled in front of the window, Chief Swan left, leaving me alone with Bella for about another forty five minutes.

"I'm just going to turn the lights out so you can see outside better." I told her before I turned off the lights. I heard her shift about a little as she coughed. I hoped she'd get rid of it soon. It sounded just as painful as last week even though I knew she was on medication.

My hands clenched tight into fists and my jaw clenched closed just as tight as I got back to Bella, only to find that she had turned her back to the window. After the charade of moving the sofa and for me to think up something, something I thought she might like, she dashed it down which was agitating. I had no idea why she had objected to this. She was nearer to the window and she could see better now that I had turned the lights off and yet she had turned her back on it all to face the sofa's back.

It was the first hurdle of the day and I had tripped already. I felt frustrated that I couldn't get into her mind and know what she was thinking. I smiled as I recalled what I had thought earlier. I was taking back my thought from before. Why had I thought it refreshing to have a mind I couldn't read?

I didn't know what to do for the time being. I knew that pushing her into telling me why she had turned would be a wrong move and so would trying to integrate her into some conversation.

I decided to do something I never thought I'd ever do. I joined my patient. I grabbed a cushion from another sofa and sat down on the floor with my back against the part of the sofa where Bella's feet were.

I reached the cushion back and offered it to her. "Here, you'll be more comfortable with this…" I told her. She didn't take it from me, nor did she push it away when I left it balancing on her side.

She didn't move for a few seconds and neither did I from looking out the window. When I heard her moving, I hoped she would take the cushion. It might show that she was accepting me and my help.

The cushion landed on the floor beside me with a little thud. I nodded my head and clenched my jaw. She was proving to be tricky.

A few seconds later and I stopped breathing all together as I heard Bella take a deeper breath than usual. "Stop helping me." I heard her whisper. She sounded defeated and tired.

I turned to look at her once I was sure she wasn't going to speak again. I didn't know what she meant. Did she want me to stop helping her with the therapy? That wasn't going to happen anyway. She was mine now. She was my patient and I would see to her care. I would fix her and make her better again, no matter how hard the trip was or how hard she fought me.

"I cant." I replied in a whisper, so I didn't startle her.

Neither of us said a word for the remainder of the session. I was happy enough to just listen to her heart beat. I'd felt a little taken aback when I'd heard her heart race after I told her I couldn't stop helping her. I wondered what that was about. Was she angry? Did she want me to leave her alone? Or was she shocked that I'd heard her? I was positive that she'd spoken in a loud enough whisper for a human to hear though. One idea I had may have been a little absurd, or correct. I hoped that her heart raced because now she knew I wouldn't give up no matter how much she didn't want to be helped. I knew she felt safe here. I was sure that if I was her, I'd be happy to know I had somewhere I saw as beings safe to come back to week after week.

The sound of Bella's heart beat outweighed my desire to keep an eye on the clock and so when I glanced at my watch some time later and saw that we had ran over our session time by a few minutes, I was shocked. I got up off the floor and told Bella that her ordeal for the week was over.

She got up after I'd switched on the lights and rubbed her eyes. She squinted against the new light before bowing her head.

"I'll see you again next week Bella. I want to see more of that cough gone but I'm glad your lungs don't sound so heavy and painful." I told her.

The sharp look she gave me when I brought the fact of the painful sound she had in her chest astounded me. Her eyes looked black. I knew then that Carlisle's and my theory had been correct. She had been causing pain to herself. I was sure that Chief Swan made sure that she took her medication and that she would get better. I needed to talk to Carlisle. We didn't need Bella inflicting pain on herself in other ways if she didn't start opening up with me or making any progress soon.

I opened the door to the reception area and watched as Stephen walked by with a fresh cup of coffee. I also watched in the corner of my eye as Bella took a step back quickly and tried to cover up her actions by turning around to look out the window.

"Hey Bells, did it go alright?" At the sound of her father's voice, Bella marched past me and to her fathers side instantly.

She's got a face like thunder, great. I heard her father think as he caught sight of Bella's face. I didn't think she looked that mad, even through seeing her face in her fathers thoughts, but she did have that little knot between her brows and her eyes looked sharper than usual.

Bella didn't display much outward reactions to emotions, but I could see that the Chief could already read his daughter even if he had to read the smallest changes in her. I supposed he noticed these things from how carefully he watched her. He was a very worried father as he had every right to be.

"Same time next week?" Chief Swan asked. I could hear his thoughts. He was hoping vainly that I had been able to crack her already and that she was cured.

I silently nodded my head in grave affirmation. Bella would be back again and again until I could get inside her mind.

"I'll see you next week Bella." I said as they went to leave.

I didn't expect any reaction from her, except maybe a glare, but instead I got a blank look and a slightest nod of the head. It seemed as though she'd accepted that I would keep trying to help her, even if she didn't want me to.

I told Stephen that I'd be ready for my next patient in ten minutes. I went back into my office and closed the door behind me before going to the sofa where Bella had been and sat down. I lifted the discarded cushion from the floor and hugged it against my chest while I wondered what I would do next. I never planned any of my sessions and I began to wonder if I should with Bella.

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**There will be more chapters. This story is totally unplanned and so any ideas I have will be written. Bella and Edward had 2years of sessions…I****'****m sure this wont be over after a matter of five chapters anyway. **

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	4. Alice's Visions

_**I own nothing**__._

**I'm not sure how this chapter went…Let me know. I think the next chapter will be better though. I've had the next one planned for a while.**

**Edward POV.**

Being a vampire had its benefits. I didn't have to sleep; therefore I couldn't oversleep and make it into work late. If my car broke down, I could simply run to work. It was usually dark in the early morning when I got to my office, so there was little chance of anyone seeing me running if I went by the back roads and especially because of my speed.

Even though I was immortal, I still managed to make it into work late one Monday morning.

I had been ready to leave the house at my usual time. I grabbed my files and papers from my desk before neatly arranging them into my case. I made sure I had all my papers for Bella in order, even though I didn't have all that many papers for her. If I could work out more from her mind I was sure I could write a novel about her and her complex mind.

From my room, I could hear Emmett and Rosalie bickering about which flowers to have in their next wedding. I knew that Alice and Jasper were in the garden. I'd seen Alice's few visions of how she and Jasper were going to landscape it.

I heard Carlisle at the front door, saying goodbye to Esme just as I descended the stairs.

"I'll see you tonight son, good luck." Carlisle said to me, obviously referring to Bella, who everyone knew I was having troubles with. I nodded my head, before Carlisle turned to go for the door.

Alice and Jasper entered the room, rolling off Latin names of flowers off their tongues quickly.

Just as I began to walk toward Esme to say goodbye, my mind was flooded with flashes of scenes. I froze, knowing I was reading Alice's mind. In the background I could faintly make out the sound of Jasper quizzing Alice about what she could see, as he always did.

The first vision was of me making my way down the long corridor to my office and walking into the reception area where Stephen was sat, behind his desk as always. Chief Swan and Bella were sat in the chairs in the corner of the room, both of them silent and Bella as still as stone while they waited.

I had a good idea of what would happen when the vision started, but as soon as I walked into that office, I was absolutely positive as to what I would do. My throat burned, my senses flared and I saw red.

Without a word, I flew at Stephen and snapped his neck. In less than a second, the Chief was crumpled on the floor, having suffered the same fate. Finally there was Bella. Sweet, sweet Bella with the blood that called out to me, which was more tempting than any other I had encountered before. I could see her confusion as I stalked toward her, moving slowly. I feet utterly astounded by her lack of fright as I picked up one of her hands in mine and she willingly let me pull her gently to her feet. We both remained silent as I drew her close to my body and bent my head to run my nose along her throat. I smelled her, drugging myself in her aroma while she remained perfectly still in my arms.

She turned her head away from me, so foolishly. It was the perfect invitation for me to take her, whether she knew it or not.

After brushing my nose up and down the full length of her neck, I pressed my lips to her warm skin before lightly breaking the skin at her neck. I hit the point of no return then and I let loose. The animal in me awoke fully and I gorged. I drank her in, drank her blood. Even from only watching Alice's premonition, I could almost feel how good Bella's blood would feel and taste as it ran down my throat. I new that I would both want to drink slowly to savour the taste and yet drink fast and deep because of how good it would taste.

I felt both relief and despair as the vision ended. I didn't want to see the monster I may become and yet, I wanted to see more so I could feel her in my arms again and know what heaven tasted of.

No more than a split second later, I was attacked by another vision. This time, I was in my office and sat behind my desk. Bella was already with me, silently lying on the therapy sofa as usual.

I was gripping to the arms of my chair, crumbling them steadily to dust which fell to the floor noiselessly. Her aroma was worse, or better, it was hard to decide, but the room seemed full of it, and there was nothing I wanted more than to sink my teeth into her. However, I remained strong, never even opening my mouth to say a word. I counted the tiles on the ceiling and once I was done with that, I began to count each book from my library against the far wall.

At book number 1,756, Jasper turned up. He entered the room and instantly his eyes were sharp, searching. He was breathing in my Bella's scent deeply, just as I desperately wanted to do and I envied him at that moment. Jasper was my brother, and he was sticking to our vegetarian way of life, but finding it hard. At that point, I didn't care what he wanted to do. I didn't care that he wanted to drink from Bella. He wasn't going to.

I vaulted over my desk and ran to Bella at the same time Jasper sprinted in the same direction. Our savage snarls at one another had cause Bella to sit up and take notice of what was going on for a change and now she looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

She didn't even scream at the sound of Jasper and me smashing into each other. The impact wasn't that bad to the both of us, but it sounded bone shattering. Fortunately for me, Jasper faltered with his footing and I made it ahead in time to dive at Bella and scoop her into my arms. With a jump, I sprang us to the far corner of the room and kept her hidden between me and the wall to protect her.

Behind us, Jasper was slowly stalking forward. From Alice's vision now, it was from Jasper's eyes that we saw what happened next. I could see my back, and just a wisp of Bella's hair, but nothing else. I blocked her almost entirely from sight. Jasper got close enough to grasp my shoulder and pull me back. I felt horrified as I saw what I had done. I thought I had been protecting her, but I still had my mouth at her neck while she hung limply in my arms.

There were more flashes. I saw so many different ways in which I could kill Bella this morning. Finally, when my mind cleared and I decided that I would go and hunt instantly, the visions stopped.

I turned to Alice but saw that she was curled up in Jaspers lap, looking a little tired even though we couldn't get tired. I didn't say a word as I dropped my case and flew out of the door toward the forest behind our home.

While I hunted, I realised how careful I needed to be around Bella. I knew that her blood was the most tempting I had come across yet, and so now, I knew I had to have my wits about me when it came to her. I had obviously been thirsty, well, I knew I had been, but I hadn't thought that I would have been weak enough to loose my will power with Bella. From Alice's visions that I had just seen, I was obviously not as strong as I thought I was. I couldn't let those visions be seen again. I needed to makes sure that I hunted regularly, as to not be in this situation ever more.

I couldn't risk loosing everything just to gorge on Bella's blood and I also couldn't risk Bella's life. It had already been in the balance once before. I couldn't be foolish and have it risked again.

After making sure that I had drank my fill of animal blood, I returned back to the house to shower and change quickly. By the time I was done and in the car, I knew I'd be late for work, even if I did speed. I rang Stephen on the way to let him know that I was going to be late and then told him to let Bella in my room and to then leave her alone. I hoped the chief would have enough sense to escort her into the room before leaving. It was obvious that Bella wasn't comfortable Stephen due to her aversion to young men with blonde hair especially.

I wondered on the way if it was now such a good idea to get Jasper in on the whole thing. I had wondered before if I could use Jasper's talent of empathy to help me work out what was going on with Bella. I hoped that having Jasper in the room would help me work out what she felt when she was in therapy with me. I needed to know if I was heading down the right tracks with my questions because listening to her heart rate and trying to work out her mind was like hitting a wall repeatedly. Until she wanted to open up to me, I had nothing to work with.

I got into the building, late, for the first time ever. I quickly made my way up to my office and found the reception area empty except for Stephen who was flipping through some papers and using his coffee as a paperweight.

I greeted him silently with a nod before grabbing the second coffee at the corner of his desk which he'd got for me before hand. The poor potted plant behind my desk was still alive even though I fed it with my coffee every day. There had to be some sacrifices if I was to act human.

The moment I opened the door to my office, I was attacked by Bella's aroma. I quickly raised the cup of coffee to my lips, but didn't drink it. I inhaled the smell of coffee to give me some time to adjust. After a mere second, I lowered the cup and found some control.

It was as torturous as I recalled in Alice's memory, but I found I had better restraint, like I normally had. I could control myself and remain calm.

"Good morning Bella, how are you this morning?" I asked as I went around, walking in front of the sofa she always lay on. I made sure to walk this way so I could get a glimpse of her. I wanted to see how she was today.

She was curled up on the sofa, the same as ever and facing outward, facing the window beyond. I was met with a stone face as I passed. She showed no emotion and didn't move more than she had to from breathing. I sat down behind my desk and ran my hands through my hair before sitting back and fishing through the stacks of papers I carried for Bella's file.

"You're late." I froze still at the sound of her voice. I had heard her speak in Charlie's memories and a particularly infuriatingly torturous vision of Alice's, but never in person. The whisper was soft, her voice, beautiful, even more so than the memories.

That was the first time she'd spoken to me and I was astounded.

"I'm sorry. There was something important I needed to do at home before work." I explained gently. I sat back and began to wrack my brain as to why I had answered her. As a rule, I never let anything from my personal life in. What I had said to her hardly showed her my life story, but I would usually apologise and leave it at that for my other patients.

Maybe I felt like I owed her some half explanation because I would have been hell bent on killing her had I been in work on time and had not got my fill of blood.

I listened to the familiar sound of Bella turning her back on the window. I sometimes wondered whether she slept during these times because her heart rate slowed right down, but I knew from Charlie's memories that she always had nightmares when she slept. Another theory I toyed with was that Bella turned her back when she'd had enough of me talking or me asking her questions, even though she never answered them, finally, she might even do it if she simply had enough of our silences. It was as if she cut everything off when she turned her back. It was 'game over' for the day once she did that.

I had to move onto analysing why she'd spoken for the first time today now that she'd shown me that she was going to be unresponsive from here on.

I wondered if my being late had irked her or worried her enough to make her talk. Something must have affected her and I was itching to find out what.

The rest of the session went by much too fast for my liking. I liked to sit and think, happy in our comfortable silence while I listened to her heartbeat and breathing also. It pleased me to hear the sound of her breathing better than before. She was getting healthy even if her attitude toward the therapy wasn't improving.

The moment I announced that the therapy was over, Bella got up on her feet and went to the door. She crossed her arms over her chest and kept her eyes averted from mine while she waited. I wondered why she didn't just walk out to her father, but then I realised that he wasn't there yet. I couldn't hear his thoughts, hear him speak, smell his aroma. Nothing. He wasn't there.

I opened the door of my office to the reception area and was followed by a meek Bella. She kept to my side, away from poor Stephen who I knew always hated that Bella and some of the other patients were wary or afraid of him, but he knew the reasons. He knew why they were all here and so he took it well and remained professional as he did now, not even looking at Bella.

"I'll walk you down…save your father from coming all the way up…" I muttered awkwardly as I gestured for Bella to follow me. I opened the door to the hallway and let her pass me out of the room. She walked silently beside me, keeping her head down and her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. She was making herself seem invisible, I could see that much.

I took her outside where we stood, waiting for her father to arrive. I could hear him a minute's drive down the road, cursing to himself that he was running late. I took the opportunity to turn to Bella.

"Bella…" I spoke her name gently, willing her to look at me and not ignore me.

She turned her head a little to look at me before looking back ahead of her. I took this as some sort of sign to show she was listening to me.

"I'm sorry I was late today." I said gently, meaning every word. I caught her frown and felt so frustrated that I didn't know if that was a good thing or not. At least she showed some reaction which meant something. "It wont happen again anyway." I vowed before announcing to her that her father had arrived and pointing out his cruiser between the traffic.

Bella left and I was soon back in my office, going through my other patients like water.

By the time I left my office, it was late and dark. I had let Stephen leave at his usual time and had then just sat there in my office wondering what to do next with Bella. I played over Charlie's memories which I had embedded in my mind and saw the ones with Bella in them, screaming and tossing and turning at night in her sleep. I knew from these memories that she talked in her sleep, but the chief's memories weren't vivid enough for me to make out what she'd say. I wasn't sure if he himself had ever understood her sleepy slurs, but I oddly felt confident that I would understand her. My heightened sense of hearing would be a great help if ever I had Bella asleep in here. I wondered if there was a way I could get her asleep. I knew I could lace a cup of coffee with sleeping pills, but that was risky and a stupid move. I didn't want her drugged up and tricked.

As I drove home, it hit me. It was so obvious, I hadn't even thought of it before.

I parked the car on the side of the road a short distance from the Swan's home. I got out of the car and stood there, wondering if this was the right thing to do or not.

My feet soon carried me to the woods behind their home and then quickly to the tree outside Bella's window. I knew it was her room. Her aroma and her heart beat were both things I could pick up from afar. I knew she was in her room and I then knew exactly which it was.

I wondered if what I was doing could have been considered as cheating, but I didn't care. Being here could help Bella, it was for her own good, or so I hoped.

Being as silent as the grave, I watched Bella from outside her window. She was already in bed, the lights were off and she was curled up. I knew from her heart rate that it wouldn't be long until she got far enough into her sleep for the nightmares to begin and so I waited patiently.

A while later, I entered my home only to find Alice and Jasper in the living room, looking expectantly at me.

"You did it didn't you?" Alice asked. I gave her a confused look and was answered by a vision of me outside Bella's window, watching her while she went through her nightmare.

I ducked my head in guilt. I knew I shouldn't have done it. It was cheating, but I had been so drawn to the idea once it had come to me. There had been nothing else for me to do but cheat. There wasn't a way for me to get into her mind, and she wasn't giving me any insight, so I had to try things my way.

"Edward, enough with the guilt, please…" Jasper sighed from the sofa while looking pleadingly to me.

"Sorry…" I whispered apologetically before heading for the stairs.

"I said stop it." Jasper hissed before turning his attention to Alice.


End file.
